By 
Roscommon 1-16 Tyrone 0-19
ROSCOMMON hurlers rescued a barely-deserved draw right at the end against a fired-up Tyrone at Dr Hyde Park on Saturday afternoon in National League Division Three.
The home side were the warmest of favourites to maintain their promotion charge following a hat-trick of league victories, but it took three outstanding saves from their goalkeeper Enda Lawless alongside a hat-trick of points in injury time to restore parity for the Rossies.
Captain James McCann and Ciarán Magill were excellent for the visitors, while Roscommon struggled to keep tabs on Tyrone’s lively inside line of Niall McGarel, Kiefer Morgan and Michael Little who hit 0-12 between them.
Seán Canning always looked like making something happening when he was furnished with possession for Roscommon, but too many players had days they’d rather forget. Overall, their first touch was poor and their decision-making, especially when it came to distribution and shot selection, was extremely lacklustre.
Apart from Canning, Roscommon’s other shining light was goalkeeper Enda Lawless who made three outstanding saves over the hour, interventions that ensured Tyrone weren’t out the gap before the Rossies unearthed some unexpected match-saving momentum in injury time.
Roscommon were fortunate to be ahead by the bare minimum at the break.
The home side’s handling was poor, they made a number of unforced errors, and, of course, Lawless bailed his team out with a couple of outstanding saves.
The sides were level, 0-5 apiece, after 14 minutes — Canning (2), Conor Morris (two frees), and one of the points of the game from Keelan Ryan accounting for the Rossies scores, while Aidan Woods, Kiefer Morgan, Ciaran Magill, Michael Little (’65) and Niall McGarel split the posts for the visitors.
At that stage, Lawless had dived to his right to deny Pierce Mullin from point-blank range. But it was a sign that Tyrone were finding their feet, and points from Pierce Mullin, Dean Rafferty and Little edged them three points ahead by the 20th minute.
But Roscommon responded with 1-2 without reply. Cian Bowes and Morris (free) found the target before poor Tyrone defending allowed Conor Mulry and Liam Óg Coyle set up Bowes for a well-taken goal in the 26th minute.
However, the Roscommon mistakes kept coming. A loose pass from Tommy Morris gifted Niall McGarel a point. Conor Morris replied with a free before Lawless denied McGarel with another incredible save, albeit there was consolation for the Red Hand County when Mullin pointed to leave his side 1-8 to 0-10 in arrears at the break.
As patchy as Roscommon were in the opening 35 minutes, they were worse after the break as any semblance of the collective was replaced by individualism.
Tyrone dominated through the excellence of Ciarán Magill — who was the best player on the field — the neat stickwork of Kiefer Morgan and McGarel, and the accuracy of Michael Little from frees.
Lawless made a third outstanding save, and Tyrone were also unlucky not to win a penalty when Turlough Mullin appeared to be pulled back by a Roscommon defender when bearing down on goal.
Roscommon only scored five times in the opening 33 minutes of the second half with the wind behind them through Canning (2), Morris (two frees) and Adam Donnelly (a free inside his own half).
During that time, they amassed ten wides, which highlighted how the confidence had drained away from their game.
Crucially, however, they were within striking distance going into injury time, and when Canning and Murray fired over rapid-fire scores, their final attack yielded the equaliser for Micheál Hussey in what was the last play of the match.
Scorers
Roscommon: C Morris (0-6,6f), S Canning (0-5), C Bowes (1-1), M Hussey (1-0), A Donnelly (0-1,f), K Ryan (0-1), C Murray (0-1).
Tyrone: M Little (0-7,4f), N McGarel (0-4), C Magill (0-3), A Woods (0-2),D Rafferty (0-1), P Mullin (0-1), K Morgan (0-1).
Teams
Roscommon: E Lawless; E Mulry, J Dillon, M Hussey, K Ryan, T Morris, D Finn; C Morris, R Finn; C Murray, C Bowes, S Canning, C Mulry, A Donnelly, L Óg Coyle. Subs used: P Fallon for Óg Coyle (half-time), J Dowling for Mulry (51 mins), B Mannion for D. Finn (65 mins).
Tyrone: C McElhatton; D Rafferty, O McKee, J McCann; S Sweeney, F Devlin, F Donaghy, SP McKernan, C Magill, T Mullin, A Woods, P Mullin, N McGarel, K Morgan, M Little). Subs used: R Weir for P Mullin (60 mins), L Griffith for T Mullin (55 mins), A Crossan for McKernan (70 mins).
Referee: M Redmond (Kildare)
